Onlykashmir.in News Desk
India on Tuesday delivered a sharp diplomatic rebuke to Pakistan, calling on Islamabad to halt the bloodshed in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, take credible, verifiable and irreversible action against terror networks operating from its soil, and immediately vacate all Indian territories under its illegal and forcible occupation.
The strong message came from the Ministry of External Affairs in response to media queries over remarks made by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister around the so-called “Youm-e-Istehsal,” an observance Islamabad has used in recent years to mark its objection to India’s 2019 constitutional changes in Jammu and Kashmir. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the world was not fooled by what he described as orchestrated spectacles, and reiterated that India categorically rejects Pakistan’s attempts to observe the day.
Jaiswal was unambiguous in asserting that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are, have always been, and shall forever remain an integral and inalienable part of India. He stressed that the constitutional reforms carried out on August 5, 2019 were entirely an internal matter for India, and that Pakistan has no locus standi to comment on issues strictly within the country’s domestic jurisdiction.
The spokesperson went further, framing Pakistan’s rhetoric as a deliberate attempt to deflect international attention from its own troubled human rights record and its standing as what he called the global epicentre of terrorism. He pointed to the situation unfolding in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir itself, where security forces have in recent weeks resorted to lethal violence, targeted killings and draconian bans in an effort to suppress peaceful civil rights protests led by the local population.
According to Jaiswal, this pattern of state-sponsored violence against unarmed civilians lays bare the hypocrisy of Islamabad’s position, even as it seeks to lecture others on rights and self-determination. The remarks come at a moment of heightened scrutiny of Pakistan’s internal security record, with rights groups and independent observers increasingly documenting the treatment of civilians in the region.
India’s position, reaffirmed through the MEA statement, underscores New Delhi’s continued resolve to counter what it views as Pakistan-sponsored narratives on Jammu and Kashmir, while highlighting the socio-economic transformation the Union Territories have witnessed since 2019.
